2013 Perth Classic
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- Created on Sunday, 28 July 2013 22:32
- Written by Glenn Dawson
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Jackadder Lake - Sunday July 28 2013
Saturday night was a stormy, rainy night, so turning up on Sunday morning to a dead calm lake was a bit of a surprise. The water was a mirror, the sky was blue and the sun was shining – shades of a particular regatta in Melbourne not so long ago.
Before long, a light west to south-westerly breeze fluttered in and we moved to the southern car-park to try and make the best of the prevailing wind direction. By 10.30, 16 skippers had fronted and everyone was happy to sail in the ranking fleet. We were pleased to welcome Michael Cameron who had come up from Albany. Michael’s Kantun was an interesting boat to have a good look at.
Photo: Audrey Greeve (thanks Audrey!!)
Rosco Bennett figured out that he was going to get very frustrated very quickly, and volunteered to act as PRO for the day. Ray Forsythe acted as scorer for the day, and Andree recorded our finishing positions. Many thanks to Andree, Ross and Ray for your efforts in making the day function so efficiently.
It was pretty clear that the wind was going to be fluky. It never really got above 5 knots, and across the day, there were a few showers, each one followed by a fade-out of the wind. Plenty of skippers found themselves floundering in a hole, with boats sailing around them on the left and right. There was a fair bit of frustration with the wind, and a few skippers picked up reeds around their keels as well.
Early in the day, Justin McAullay got his Goth flying in the light. He took out the first three bullets, some by significant margins. Peter Johnson and Bob Paton did enough to keep themselves in close contact as well. Soon, Roger Paul, Sean Wallis and Glenn Dawson came to the fore with heat wins.
The course was quite long, but was running along the shore, so the boats didn’t get too far away from the bank. The length of the windward leg did favour those who were prepared to walk along the shore.
About 12.30pm, lunch was called, and Rod Moss’s BBQ was fired up. Many thanks to Greg, who wasn’t sailing, but cooked the snags for us. We had to jacket up straight after lunch as a few showers came through, and then we had to wait for the wind to re-appear.
Unfortunately, Ray and Ian had to leave early, so the fleet was down to 14 for the afternoon.
As the sailing continued, Roger started to put together some consistent results. Rog could be heard “encouraging” himself with some colourful language. This time, he must have listened to himself, and managed to place in the top three in most races. Meanwhile, Sean was pegging Roger back slowly but surely. Peter had a few difficulties, with some bad luck picking up some reeds. Likewise, Justin was having a few problems maintaining consistent results, allowing Roger and Sean to get in front of him.
During the afternoon, Michael Cameron got his Kantun rocketing, and managed a heat win by quite a distance. Peter Buchanan also improved as the afternoon progressed, and the Britpop was travelling pretty well.
Towards the late afternoon, Sean had an opportunity to hit the front, but Roger managed to hold him off by a very slight margin. Justin made a late charge to pip Glenn in third for the day.
Overall, the 2013 Perth Classic was a good day, with exceptional behaviour on the water and good hard racing. Well done to all concerned – a regatta which was enjoyable whilst still being very competitive.
Results:
1 Roger Paul Pikanto 86 32
2 Sean Wallis Panko 92 34
3 Justin McAullay Goth 54 59
4 Glenn Dawson Lintel MMX 76 60
5 Peter Johnson Stallion 182 66
6 Michael Cameron Kantun 53 71
7 Peter Buchanan Britpop 115 75
8 Bruce Robins Vapour 00 88
9 Bob Paton Mad Max 63 88
10 Rodney Moss Obsession 147 101
11 Robert Mews Robot 250 110
12 Lloyd Coles TS1 83 111
13 Denton Roberts Obsession 176 120
14 Peter Greeve Own Design 590 145
15 Ray Bassett Evo 104 155
16 Ian Sherriff Goth 57 167
PRO Ross Bennett